Rail-holding means.



E. E. DAVENPORT.

RAH. HOLDING MEANS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 22. 1916.

z ,5 m m 1 w m A 4, 0 y H D M \N N m W M d N1 M Q\ M P u m NN NN N N QN y w 5 5 6, MW/ 9 s m 1 l 1 M ELMER E. DAVENPORT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF'ONE-HALFTO MERWIN R. DAVENPORT, 0F BARABOO, WISCONSIN.

RAIL-HOLDING MEANS.

Application filed April 22, 1916. Serial No. 82,856.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELMER E. DAVENPORT, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Holding Means, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore in the construction of railroad tracks the use ofties made of hard wood has become quite generah'in order that the rail spikes driven will have greater holding power. Hardwood is high priced, and the scarcity thereof is being felt more every year by the railroad companies. The use of hard wood ties alone is not satisfactory as the spikes will, after hard usage, become loosened or bent outward. They must then be withdrawn and replaced. Oftentimes ties that are otherwise in a good state of preservation have to be thrown away because the spikes have been withdrawn and replaced so often that the tie is filled with holes, and there is no solid and substantial place left in which to drive a spike. Also there is a tendency of the rails to spread apart, particularly on a curve where the outside wheels crowd the rail. Various kinds of plates and braces have been provided for overcoming this difficulty, but these are expensive and have not been satisfactory because the spikes used to hold such plates and braces will bend and become loose. Furthermore, there is a tendencyof the rails to creep in a longitudinal direction, particularly on a grade.

The main objects of this invention are to provide improved means for holding railroad rails to the ties, for preventing the rails from spreading apart, for preventing the railsofrom creeping in a longitudinal direction, particularly on grades, and for preventing the loosening of the rail spikes to provide improved rail holding means in the form of a yoke engaging both rails and which can be attached to the ties by spikes driven in a direction transverse to the usual rail spikes whereby the rail is prevented from loosening and pulling the usual rail spikes; and to provide improvedrail holding means which can be used with equal efiiciency with ties of soft wood as with those of hard wood, thereby making possible large savings in the cost of ties.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a section ofa railroad track showing the improved rail holding means in place on the rails and ties. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the railv holding means with both of its upstanding hooked ends shaped for direct engagement with the rail base flanges. Fig. 3 is aside elevation of-the'rail holding means with one of the upstanding hooked ends shaped to receive the base flange of the rail and the other hooked end shaped to receive the base flangeo-f the rail together with the angle bar. Fig. 4: is a sectional elevation taken on the line AA of Fig. 1. v ,7

In the construction shown in the drawings a pair of railroad rails 1 and 2' are mounted on a series'of spacedlties 3 and are secured thereto by means of the usual rail. spikes 4. Fish plates br angle bars 5, having outwardly extending base flanges 6, are provided for joining the ends of rails together,

and the flanges 6 of the bars have notches 7 and 8 cut therein. The notches 7 in the outside angle bars are cut symmetrically with respect to the ends of the bars so that these bars .may be used interchangeably on the outside of either rail, and therefore will not need to be made in rights and lefts.

Holding members in the form of yokes are Patented July 4, 1916.

provided for holding the rails. These yokes can be made from steel bars 9, about onehalf inch in' thickness and three inches in width, by forging or otherwise bending the ends edgewise over a form so as to provide upstanding hooked ends 10 that are adapted to embrace and exactly gage the outside base flanges of the rails Some of the yokes are made with a larger recess under one of the hooked ends as shown at 11 in Figs. 3 and i so as to embrace both the base flange of the rail and the base flange 6 of the angle bar. Two or more holes 12 can be punched in the yoke bars 9 so that they can be spiked to the side of a tie, and the ties adjacent the rail joints are placed so that one or two of the notches 7 are located right at the side of the tie. With this arrangement one of the hooked ends 10, having an enlarged recess 11, can be hooked in the notch, and if the yokes are placed at points as described one or the other will be on the upg ade side of the tie on a hill. The yoke is then secured to the tie by spikes 13 and will effectually or both sides to make a face for the yoke.

While such'a yoke could be made from round rodsor differently shaped bars, the shape describedwill be found to be the best in every respect, and at the same weight it should provide greater strength on account of the ends being bent edgewise.

The yoke spikes 13 will'not only reinforce the rail spikes 4: to keep rails from spreading, but as they are driven into the ties at nearly right angles with the rail spikes they v will prevent the rails from pulling their own spikes loose as the strain to which the rail spikes are subjected cannot pull endwise on the yokespikes. Also it is much more convenient to have the yokes spiked to the ties since they will always be where they belong, either in new or old track work, and they will not be in the way. In new track work, the yokes can be spiked to the ties before they are placed in the road bed. They will then be a help in laying the track in exact gageand by being spiked to the side of the ties they will not interfere with the work of tamping. I a

In regardto old track work, when a tie is no longer serviceable it will only be necessary to pull the yoke spikes in order to remove the old tie in the usual way, then the yoke can be re-spiked to the new tie. WVhen a broken or worn out rail is to be taken out, the inside spikes are pulled while the outside spikes are merely loosened a little. Then when the inside angle bars are taken off the rail is knocked or pried away from the outside spikes and removed. When the new rail is put in place the inside angle bars are put back and the rail is held against the outside spikes while it is spiked on the inside. Then the outside spikes are hammered down tight, It is evident these yokes will not interfere with this work.

The number of yokes that can be used for each rail can be varied from two. at or near each joint, to one or even two on each tie. The great objection to soft wood ties is that spikes can give way in them and become loose more easily than they can in hard wood, but-by using one or two of the improved yokes on each tie, soft wood ties can be used with perfect safety.

By placing yokes at joints as described, it will be seen that either one or the other will be on the upgrade side of a tie on a hill. lVith the outside angle bars notched for the yokes, the strain will come on the uphill I side of the ties, and in order'for the rails to creep they would have to drag all the ties and ballast in which they are embedded. This, of course, would be impossible.

The yokes will prevent the rails from crowding the rail-spikes outward when the car wheels crowd the outside rails on a curve or when they crowd one rail and then the other on account of the rolling motion of a train or swaying 0f the trucks on either straight or curved track, or when the rail on one side of a track is lower than the rail on the other.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that the construction may be altered or details omitted without departing from the spirit of this in vention as defined by the following claim.

I claim: The combination of a tie, a pair of rails mounted on said tie, an angle bar on one of said rails, said bar having a notch therein, a rail holding member comprising a bar having upstanding hookedends adapted to embrace said rails, one of said ends being adapted to fit in the notch in said angle bar for preventing the rail to which said plate is attached from creeping in a longitudinal, direction, and means for securing said member to said tie, said means being disposed transversely to a vertical plane.

Signed at Chicago this 20th day of April,

ELMER E. DAVENPORT.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of 1mm.

. Washington, D. O." i 

